


Ocean Eyes

by everywintersbreath



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M, junhui is a mermaid, yanan is always nice tho lets be honest, yanan is nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 23:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15873975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everywintersbreath/pseuds/everywintersbreath
Summary: Luckily for a newly-homeless Junhui, Yanan's ground-floor bathtub is accepting new tenants.





	Ocean Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> are you tired of me yet LOL

He’s bleeding, that much is obvious.

The sand is rough against his bare skin, scraping at the lines cut into his body by misplaced fish hooks and coarse netting. As if that weren’t enough, it’s freezing. Being completely out of the water is quite unusual for Junhui, the cold wind whipping across his face and taking the breaths from his parched lips.

He shudders, pushing himself forward in a makeshift army crawl with his arms, tail dragging through the sand. Maybe there will be a human nearby who will take pity on him. At this point, he’d even be grateful if someone just killed him. There’s not much worth living for after being exiled by your own people.

Grimacing, Junhui manages to move another foot or so up the beach. The darkness is no problem considering how his eyes are used to peering around the depths of the ocean. It’s more the physical discomfort that’s bothering him, his tail already starting to dry out. There’s something especially disgusting about the feeling of his body drying out. It’s kind of like having extremely chapped lips and getting the uncontrollable urge to rip off the dead skin. 

Junhui cries out loudly, his stomach scraping against a rock as he jolts forward. As if summoned by his cry, a voice calls out from the brush nearby, sounding startled. “Hello? Is someone there?”

“I’m here,” Junhui grunts out, searching around for the source of the voice. Within moments. a young man appears from the brush carrying the scent of a campfire on his clothes, smoky and nostalgic. His lower jaw drops open at the sight of Junhui, gaze roaming up and down his body. He’s pretty, handsome in a refined way and cute in an innocent one. “My eyes are up here,” Junhui says dryly, enjoying the way that the man flushes bright red. 

“S-Sorry,” he stutters. “I just… are you real?”

“Last time I checked, yes,” Junhui answers, shifting uncomfortably to get the rock away from his stomach. The man glances at it, expression morphing to one of concern. “Are you alright? Are you going to die if you’re out of the water for too long? Do you need help getting back into the ocean?”

He spits out the questions rapidly, leaving Junhui with little time to process. “I’ve been better,” he starts weakly. “I’ll eventually die, but not soon enough for it to be a big concern right now. Going back to the ocean is the last thing I want, so if you have like a lake or something nearby that I can just chill out in, that’d be super sweet.”

The man frowns, pondering. He holds up a finger. “Hold on, wait here!”

Junhui grunts, watching the man sprint back into the foliage from which he came. It’s not like he can get far anyway. 

He rests his chin on his hands, folding them against the sand. For a short amount of time, he amuses himself by watching a green beetle scamper across the sand, pastime interrupted when he hears the man come crashing back toward him. Junhui looks up, startled, seeing the man tugging a wagon behind him, clearly out of breath. 

The man beams, looking quite proud of himself. “If we get you into the wagon, I can pull you to my house!”

“Oh,” Junhui says, interest piqued. “I might need some help getting up there though.”

“Of course,” the man replies, reaching down to grip him by the area under his armpits and tug him upwards. Junhui hadn’t been expecting the sudden movement and lets out a little shriek as he’s lifted. For such a babyish face, the guy sure has some muscle. Junhui is deposited into the wagon, awkwardly shuffling the parts of his body that can fit inside. 

“I’m going to pull you to my house now,” The man announces cheerfully. Junhui hums, wincing as they go over a large bump immediately, nearly sending him flying. “What’s your name?” He asks the man, teeth chattering together as the wagon continues to go along the bumpiest path possible. 

“Yanan. You?”

“Junhui,” he replies, fingers clutching the sides of the wagon so tightly that they’ve gone white. Yanan’s pulling the wagon awfully quickly, Junhui’s wounds getting repeatedly scratched by the wooden panels of the wagon. He’s kind of glad that it’s dark. If anyone were to see him like this, it’d probably be pretty embarrassing. 

“So why didn’t you want to go back into the ocean?” Yanan yells over the sound of the wagon rattling. Junhui decides to tell him the truth. There’s not much point in hiding it. “I was framed for a murder,” he says, quiet. Yanan stops moving for a second, looking at him in surprise. “What?”

“One of my friends killed our leader and set me up to look like the perpetrator,” Junhui explains, feeling less uncomfortable as soon as Yanan starts pulling the wagon again. “Gosh,” Yanan starts, sounding upset. “That’s awful. I’m really sorry.”

Junhui shrugs, forgetting that Yanan isn’t looking at him anymore. “Hey, at least it let me meet you, right? Not all bad.”

Even from where he is, Junhui can see the way that Yanan’s neck and ears go red. He smiles to himself, not minding even when Yanan almost tips the wagon sideways as he pulls it into the clearing where a little house sits. 

It’s pretty, the sort of thing Junhui would have imagined the human to live in. The walls are a gentle shade of baby blue that glows in the light provided by the lanterns outside, all cute flowerpots and neatly painted shutters. 

The porch is well-built, a small little table next to the door. Junhui examines it as Yanan pulls the wagon to a halt beside it, fumbling with his keys to open the door. He reaches out a finger to touch the little diamonds engraved in the top, jolted away when Yanan haphazardly yanks the wagon up the step into his house. 

The rolling is much smoother when they’re on flat ground, something Junhui can’t help but feel grateful for. “Sorry about the mess on your carpet,” Junhui says, genuinely guilty, looking back at the streaks of mud that the wagon’s left behind it. “It’s fine,” Yanan replies, ever cheerful. “I needed to clean the floors anyway.”

He pulls Junhui into a room with tiled flooring, so narrow that the wagon can no longer go beside Yanan. There’s a tub at the opposite end of the room, fairly wide, more circular than oval. Junhui looks at it curiously, not having to wonder anymore when Yanan picks him up and drops him in, fiddling with the little contraption near the opposite edge. Water starts spraying out, droplets landing on his tail.

Junhui makes a noise of delight, reaching out a hand to touch the water. The tub is big enough that his entire tail fits in it as long as his upper chest stays out of the water. Yanan laughs at his reaction. “You can stay in here if you’d like,” he says warmly, reaching down into the water past Junhui’s tail to put something into a hole at the bottom of the tub. “Would you like some food or something? I don’t know what you eat.”

“I’ll eat anything,” Junhui replies immediately, playing around with the water by his tail. “Thank you so much for taking care of me.”

“Sure, sure,” Yanan replies happily, turning away. “I’m going to go get you some stuff, okay?”

Junhui nods, continuing to splash at his tail as the water level rises. Yanan leaves the room and Junhui can hear him banging around in the other room, seemingly somewhat clumsy. It’s cute, Junhui thinks. He really likes Yanan so far. Junhui hadn’t expected humans to be so kind.

He relaxes backward, letting the water cover his lower half, only opening his eyes again when Yanan returns. “Is this enough water for you?” Yanan asks, depositing the bundle of items in his hands beside the bathtub. Junhui nods, smiling. Yanan reaches over to the spout, switching it off and stopping the flow of water.

“I brought you some food and a few bandages,” Yanan starts slowly. “I don’t know how effective the bandages will be considering how wet you are, but you’re free to try.”

“Thanks,” Junhui says, grinning at him. “Really, thank you.”

<~>

Junhui grows used to the bathtub. 

It’s his home now, a perfect little porcelain habitat. Yanan brings him things every day, from unusual foods he’s found at the farmer’s market to rubber ducks and even a toy gun that sprays water. Junhui has a bit too much fun with that last one, resulting in Yanan jokingly threatening to take it away multiple times.

Perhaps Junhui’s favorite items that Yanan brings are books. Yanan teaches him to read the words on the page very slowly, sitting beside the bathtub and reading to him when he has the time. Junhui would be lying if he said he doesn’t pretend to not understand sometimes just so Yanan will lean over and guide his hand, reading the words over again in his lilting voice. 

He kisses Yanan for the first time on what Yanan tells him is a “Saturday”. Yanan stares at him in shock for several moments afterward, not saying anything. Junhui shrinks back, all his confidence disappearing. “Was that okay?” He asks hesitantly. 

“Y-Yeah,” Yanan replies, eyes blown wide. “It’s fine, but do you know what that means to humans?”

“It means I love you,” Junhui says innocently, tilting his head at Yanan. Yanan’s whole face goes even redder and he buries it in his hands. “Good gods,” he murmurs. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“Does that mean you love me back?”

“How could I not?”

Junhui giggles, splashing him in the face with an ample amount of water and starting a water fight.

**Author's Note:**

> and then minghao comes over and tries to use the bathroom and goes wtf dude!!11!!1
> 
> thank u for reading as always <3
> 
> feedback appreciated


End file.
